Magical Ghost Lyrical Nanoha: Rider
by Wernher von Braun
Summary: There are many ways to explain how the universe works. Science manages to satisfied our curiosity and becomes the way on how figuring out how something works. But sometimes, it's better to believe in something impossible and illogical. Because it's the only thing that makes sense.
1. No Scientific Explanation

**No Scientific Explanation**

 **Mine Ruins, Ruwella**

"I don't remember the time of Ancient Belka, but I have a feeling this kind of scenery was usual." Said Agito.

"I remember that time and I can confirm it for you." Said Signum.

The scenery in front of both members of the Special Duty Section 6 can only be described as a slaughter. There was blood on the ground and the walls, body parts as far as eye can see, and the scarred faces of the corpses.

Signum walked around the crime scene, tried her best not to contaminated it. But no matter what she did, she would either walked on a pool of blood or stepped on a body part. There was no place that was free from the carnage.

"Whoever did these is even more sick than the Eclipse Infectees. At least they know how to make sure the bodies can receive proper burial. But these…" Commented Agito.

Signum walked towards one of the body that was being recorded by a forensic doctor. From his face, she knew that if possible, he hoped he never knew about what happened to the poor guy.

"What's wrong with him?" Asked Signum.

"Well, to…put it simply…" It was clear that the doctor was very uncomfortable with the question. "…his cause of death is because the culprit pulled of his brainstem from his…"

Instead of answering it directly, the doctor pointed below. Confused at first, Signum pointed below as well until she finally realized from where the victim got his brainstem pulled. Suddenly, she felt quite sick as well.

"I take my word back; Ancient Belka was better than this." Commented Signum.

"Man, we're created to arrest the Eclipse Infectees. But looks like we're going need to add homicidal psychopath to our target list." Said Agito.

"Don't worry, Agito. Just like the Infectees, we will take the culprit behind the bar."

"Damn right we are!"

* * *

 **Somewhere in Ruwella…**

"Faster! What are you doing?! Faster!"

"I am driving as fast as I can."

"Then it's not fast enough!"

Several miles away from the crime scene, the survivors of the slaughter – several scientists and security guards – were running away for their lives. The culprit managed to find out that they were alive and decided to give a chase.

He was using the same pickup truck as they were, obviously being stolen from one of their dead colleagues. It was clear that slowly but surely, the pickup truck was getting close to them.

"What are you waiting for?! Shoot him." Shouted one of the scientists.

"But it will attract the authority!" Retorted one of the guards.

"We're miles away from the nearest settlement. And the Bureau are way better than letting _him_ gets his hands on us!"

The guard reluctantly fired at the chasing vehicle with his assault rifle. However, it appeared that the shots didn't make any visible damage on the pickup truck. The guard then joined by the other guards and fired their entire magazines on the truck.

From the driver side of the truck, the culprit took out a gun with blade attached on its underside. He charged the gun as the survivors – upon seeing that – made an evasive maneuver.

The culprit fired a beam at the pickup truck that he was chasing, causing it to explode at its underside. The truck flipped up, throwing its back occupants into the air. It landed back on the road, crushing the people that sat inside it.

He stopped his truck and disembarked. He slowly walked towards the flipped truck. When he saw the inside, he realized that the job was done and diverted his attention to the two surviving guards. He cracked his knuckles and walked to one of them.

"No. Please no! Stay away!" Shouted the guard with a terrified look.

The other guard managed to recover from the landing and looked at his colleague, only to receive a spray of blood into his face. He started to crawled away while trying to stand up. However, the culprit grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into his truck.

The culprit used his other hand to grabbed the guard by his belt and put him on the back of the truck. Before he could react, the culprit knocked the guard out before embarking the truck and drove away.

* * *

 **Several hours later…**

 **Unknown Location**

"Is that all?"

"Yes, it's everything I know! I swear! If you want more information, asked one of the scientists! I am just paid to make sure they're OK!"

The guard coughed blood after saying that. He just couldn't believe what this…this _monster_ , calling him "human" will insult the entire humankind, was capable of doing. He knew the risk of joining in, but he never thought it will be so…so monstrous.

The culprit looked at him with eyes burning of rage. He went to his truck, which was parked right in front of the guard, who was being chained into a tree. He embarked the truck and started the engine. The guard, confused at first, now realized the intention of the culprit and tried to break free.

"Wait, please no! I told you everything I know!" Seeing that it did nothing, the guard became even more panic. "Please, I have wife and child!"

"You should have thought about your family."

The last thing that came from the guard was his horrified scream.

* * *

 **Church**

Veyron of Huckebein looked around the church in displeasure. He managed to get an information that a stranger managed to get his hand on an Eclipse Driver. He didn't exactly care about such a thing, but denying the TSAB a weapon like the Driver was quite a plus for him; it prevented them from having a higher possibility of capturing them.

Or maybe he was just looking for an excuse to kill some people. Either way, he didn't exactly care.

Veyron stopped his monologuing when he heard that someone entered the church. He prepared his Driver and waited for that person to come.

"You're too late. Thanks to that I have to…"

When he saw who came into the church, Veyron's eyes immediately went as wide as saucer.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

* * *

 **Several hours later…**

 **Forest**

"Here." Said a girl as she offered a boy a bottle of mineral water.

"Thanks."

Isis Egret looked at the boy, Thoma Avenir, as he drank the water. She then looked at Lily Strosek, who looked worried at the boy. She admitted that it was surprising that it was the only expression that she had, considering _that_.

"So, how exactly you have that kind of powers? I am pretty sure they don't teach that kind of _thing_ to even the best Ace." Asked Isis.

"It's…not something I want to talk about." Replied Thoma.

"Well, I can figure out why myself. Anyway, we need to move on else either the Bureau or the criminal catch up with us."

"You're right. Let's go, Lily."

Lily nodded a little as she followed Thoma and Isis through the forest.

"So, any idea where we should go now?" Asked Isis.

"You're the one who suggested it." Said Thoma as he rolled his eyes a little.

"Hey, I just said we need to move on. I never said anything about our destination."

"Alright, alright. Considering the attack on the Church, interplanetary travel will be closed down for a while. So, I guess we better find a settlement. The one with a place where we can stay obviously."

"Oh, I know a town near here. Should be there by a couple of hours."

"That's great."

"By the way, you won't do any of _that_ , won't you?"

"Don't worry. I know what I am doing."

"Hopefully."

The three of them went deeper into the forest, avoiding both the Huckebein and the TSAB.

* * *

 **The first chapter is complete.**

 **If you have question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.**

 **Review please!**


	2. The Blooded Street

**The Blooded Street**

 **Valley Town, Ruwella**

"Here you go, Miss." Said the receptionist as she gave a key.

"Thank you." Replied Isis who took the key.

She, alongside Lily, went towards upstairs where their room was. After finding their room, Room 205, they entered it and rest on the bed.

"Whew, that was hard." Commented Isis as she took out a poster.

On the poster, a photo of Thoma was printed alongside his gun-blade weapon. Under them were description and advises.

"You know, it's a good thing that the Bureau hasn't had time to update the BOLO. If they did, then getting you in is going to be complicated." Said Isis.

" _I see._ " Said Lily simply.

"You don't talk much, do you? You don't even use your mouth."

" _Not used._ "

Suddenly, both of them heard a knocking sound came from the balcony door. Since the door was made mostly from glasses, they could see that it was Thoma who knocked. Isis stood up from the bed and opened the door. When she saw Thoma closely, she could see that he warped both of his hand in a plastic bag.

"Hey there, how is it going?" Asked Isis.

"I am fine." Replied Thoma with a small smile before going inside.

"Well, we're fortunate that the side of the balcony is quiet. Otherwise, you're going to sleep at the alley."

"I don't think anyone wants to sleep there at this moment."

Curious by the reply, Isis followed Thoma as he went to the bathroom. But since he didn't lock the door, that means his business wasn't so private. When he unwarps his hands, she found out why.

"Yep. No one would want to sleep there." Agreed Isis.

* * *

 _ **Wolfram**_

"Can you confirm that the boy who resisted the arrest and assault you is him?" Asked Hayate as she showed a sketch of Thoma.

"Absolutely, Ma'am. That's him. I remember it very clear, especially when he bashed my skull." Replied the wounded officer on bed.

"I see. Thanks for your cooperation, officer."

"Always ready to help, Ma'am."

Hayate exited the infirmary with Fate and Teana waiting outside. The three of them went towards the same direction.

"So, what's the result?" Asked Fate.

"I asked all of them. They confirmed that this boy was the one responsible for their wounds." Replied Hayate.

"Did they said what kind of weapon that he used?" Asked Teana.

"Nothing. It was hand-to-hand combat. The officers didn't have time to grab their devices before the boy mopped the street with them."

"Um, Hayate, you do realize what kind of wounds that the boy inflicted, right?" Said Fate.

"I know. But you do also realize that those wounds are quite possible?"

"Well, I guess it's possible with your bare hands to fracture human skull, make someone lose some of their teeth, break the shinbone, and crush a person's palm." Said Teana. The way she said it makes Hayate wondered if she was being sarcastic.

"OK, I guess you have a point. Nevertheless, he's not that important compared to the individual who slaughtered the scientists and security guards at the ruins. I heard we recovered several more bodies?" Said Hayate.

"Yes, we found a crash site of a pick-up truck. The driver and front passengers got killed during the crash and the back passengers…one is very messy and the other one got chained into a tree and got hit by an unknown vehicle. There are also several bodies recovered from an alley at the Port Town." Explained Teana.

"The bodies at Port Town belong to criminals, judging by the fact that we found a bag belonging to someone who got mugged. The scientists are believed to be conducting illegal experiments since we don't have any records about their license to conduct experiment at the crime scene. The security guards are self-explanatory." Added Fate. "I believe we're looking for a vigilante; a very excited and psychotic one."

"Do you think the boy and the vigilante are the same person?"

"No, that's impossible Teana. It's one thing to fractured someone's head. It's another thing to…to…" Fate became very uncomfortable speaking. "…what's should be inside is outside. That's all I am going to say."

Teana shook her head as she took a closer look at the sketch of the boy. For some reason, he looked familiar.

* * *

 **Valley Town**

Inside an alley, several people were gathering around. Ever since some sort of crime happened at the Port Town, the TSAB had sent more people on various towns on Ruwella. This made committing any kind of crime harder since the risk of being captured became higher. So, they decided to lay low for a while until the extra officers move on.

"Man, this is suck." Said a middle-aged man who lighted up a cigarette.

"You tell me. I find this perfect house; the owners are having a vacation off world. Hopefully they won't return when the officers move on." Replied a man besides him.

"Speaking of which, any news of what kind of crime happened?"

"I heard that someone attacked a local Saint Church institution." Answered a man who's reading a book.

"Well that's just stupid. You don't after the Church unless for stealing some charity money or food. You do something bigger than that and this is the result."

As they were having their conversation, others were either drinking, gambling with each other, or making a plan on what to do after all of this is done.

All kind of activity stopped when they sensed that someone was coming. Something didn't feel right about this person. When they looked at the person, they saw that he was coming to them with a pipe on his right hand.

Said pipe was also on fire.

"Hey, correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure a metal can't be set on fire." Commented the smoking man.

"No, it can't. It will melt the metal on sufficient heat. It's only possible if you covered it in alcohol or something. But I am not sure that pipe is drenched in alcohol." Replied a man who was drinking.

They stood where they stand as the person slowly approached them. After several steps, the drinking man decided to approached him.

"Hey, dude. Is there something wrong with..."

Before he could finish his words, the person grabbed his bottle. And before he could reach, the person dumped the content on him…with the flaming pipe under the bottle. The effect was almost instantaneous.

The man was on fire and he started to scream. He fell down to the ground and roll around, trying to extinguished the fire. The person who set him on fire looked at him briefly and went towards the other people.

The others were still shocked by what they saw when the person bashed the head of one of them with his flaming pipe. As he fell down, the person keeps bashing his head until it exploded, sending blood everywhere.

Two people managed to recover from the shock and ran towards the person. One of them punched the person, only for the latter to almost immediately bashed his kneecap. The other man tried to punched the person as well, but he catches his fist and began to crushed it. As he screamed in pain, another man joined in and stabbed the person in the back with a pocket knife. Yet, the person didn't show any reaction.

He dropped his pipe for a moment so that he could grab the other end. The person then shoved it so hard at the stabber's abdomen that the pipe penetrated the abdomen. As the stabber fell to the ground, the person grabbed the pocket knife and stabbed the eye of the man that he grabbed.

When the person let the man's hand go, he saw that others were trying to escape. The person gave chase to them. When he was close to one of them, he grabbed him and immediately throw him to the farthest man. When both of them collided, it caused a man behind them to stop. When he turned around, the man saw the person was right behind him. The latter grabbed the former by the head and started to incinerated him. When the man turned into ashes, the person approached the other two and did the same thing.

While all of those happened, the man who got his kneecap busted attempted to run away. However, the pain that he felt prevented him from going too fast. Suddenly, someone grabbed him by the collar and forced him to turn around. After that, the person grabbed the man by both of his cheeks and stared directly at his eyes.

Several seconds later, the person walked away, leaving a catatonic survivor.

* * *

 _ **Esquad Huckebein**_

Inside the infirmary of the ship, Veyron grumbled as Fortis warped a bandage around his forehead.

"Stop grumbling, would you? If you really don't like it, then take care of your wounds yourself." Said Fortis.

"You're not the one who have a problem." Replied Veyron.

As Fortis keep warping the forehead, someone entered the room, bringing a lot of foods and cans of beer.

"Hey there, Veyron! You look quite healthy!" Shouted that someone.

"Arnage. Is my day going to get worse?" Complained Veyron.

"Don't be like that, will you? She decided to share her food with you on her own." Said Fortis.

As Fortis finished the warping, Arnage put the food at the desk near Veyron.

"Here is it, Veyron; some of the best food that I acquired. There's lobster, and that's a salmon. And oh, I believe this is a caviar. There's also these delicious cakes. And of course, the beer that you like to drink." Said Arnage excitedly.

Veyron let out a sigh as he started to took a bite on the food. He wasn't in the mood to eat anything, but if it can calm Arnage, then he wasn't going to complain.

"So, is it true that the wounds don't heal?" Asked Arnage to Fortis who was looking at a record.

"Yes. For some reason Veyron's regenerative ability doesn't heal them. I cut his finger and it healed. So, nothing is wrong with his ability." Replied Fortis.

"Could it be a new type of weapon that can harm us?"

"No. According to Veyron, his opponent used a divider as well. He never saw the model before, but it definitely is a divider. Fortunately, his opponent is inexperienced and the wounds are shallow."

"But just because wounds are shallow, blood will still flood out, right?"

"Remember when we raided that hospital? Some of the substances that we got can act as some sort of plug to an open wound. Though we need to apply it regularly. Besides, his body created blood faster than loosing it."

After hearing Fortis explanation, Arnage diverted her attention towards Veyron, who was drinking a can of beer.

"Hey, if your opponent is inexperienced, then how did you get wounded?" Asked Arnage.

"I underestimated him. It was only when I realized that my wounds don't heal that I started to take it seriously. There's also the fact that his moves are rather hard to predict, considering how useless my attack is." Replied Veyron.

"Wait, what's the last part?" Asked Fortis suddenly.

"My attacks were useless. Even with our durability and regeneration, we still need time to recover from an attack. That thing, it barely realized that it got stabbed, slashed, and shot. I also realized that it didn't show any sign of fatigue, so I ran away, knowing that it's not the kind of fight I could win."

"Well that's…problematic to say the least." Said Fortis.

"Sounds like a challenge to me." Exclaimed Arnage. "Wait, why did you say 'it' instead of, you know?"

"I am not sure a flaming skull has a gender." Replied Veyron which caused both of them to be confused.

* * *

 **Several days later…**

 _ **Wolfram**_

Fate and Teana smiled as Nanoha and Subaru walked towards them. Both Nanoha and Subaru smiled back in return.

"Tea, Fate! We've arrived!" Exclaimed Subaru.

"Welcome, Subaru, Nanoha. It's good to see both of you again." Replied Teana.

"Mm. Nice to see both of you again." Said Nanoha.

"I don't like to dump a cold water in this reunion, but time is of the essence." Informed Fate.

"Of course." Both Nanoha and Subaru turned serious.

"By the way, I heard that we're dealing with two cases instead of Eclipse only." Said Subaru.

"Yes, we are. So far, we only followed the destruction left behind by the Huckebein. However, we believed that we managed to identified a new infectee." Informed Fate as she showed the sketch.

"Wait a second, that's Thoma!" Exclaimed Subaru.

"Thoma? Oh, Thoma Avenir! You mentioned about him in your letters." Said Teana as she snapped her fingers.

"Y-Yes. Last time I saw him, Thoma was heading here to take pictures."

"I see. Long explanation short, Thoma Avenir is suspected to be an Eclipse infectee after he was detected to be carrying an EC Divider from a nearby ruin. When several officers tried to bring him in alongside a girl, he assaulted them before getting away." Informed Fate.

"He assaulted officers?!"

"Subaru, it's…"

"No, Nanoha. That's not it. Well, maybe a little. But what I am trying to say is that Thoma is not a good fighter. Sure, I teach him for a while but just one Bureau officer should be enough to defeat him."

"Well, the injuries say otherwise." Said Teana as she gave Subaru and Nanoha a list.

When they read the list, Subaru became more worried as she realized just how deep in trouble Thoma was.

"Fate, does Eclipse virus increased the strength of the infectee?" Asked Nanoha.

"There's no record to support it. The two most known abilities are durability and regenerative ability." Said Fate. "Anyway, the issues with Thoma Avenir is second priority compared to the other case."

"Oh, that's right. What's the other case?" Asked Subaru. Her voice still had a tone of worry.

"Eyes only." Said Teana as she gave Nanoha a file.

Nanoha opened the file. The moment she did that, her face became pale. It became paler as she opened the other pages. Subaru curiously look at the file as well. She suddenly had an urge to go to the bathroom.

"My gods…" Commented Nanoha.

"Yeah, that's the most brutal thing I ever see." Said Teana as she took back the file.

"It appears that a psychotic vigilante is on the loose. All of his or her victims have been confirmed to be criminals. His or her methods in dealing with the victims are brutal. I don't even want to describe most of them unless necessary, except the method where the victim got burned to crisp." Informed Fate.

"How did the vigilante managed to burn someone to crisp? It takes a lot of heat in the fire to do that. But according to the file, only the victims that got burn. Their surroundings were overall clean." Said Nanoha.

"We don't know. But that's not the strangest part since perhaps he or she can use magic; the other methods of killing the victims? They were done by bare hands."

Silence fell on the group as they started to think about that fact. Fate let out a little curse for what she did; she didn't want it herself.

"Thanks for that, Fate. Now I need to book a meeting with the mind cleanser." Said Subaru.

"We have a mind cleanser?" Asked Teana.

"The machines used to treat my sisters and I can be used for that."

The four of them walked towards the bridge after recovering. As they walked to there, Subaru can't help but be worried to the person that she considered a younger brother.

"Thoma…"

* * *

 **Valley Town**

"Here's the key, Ma'am." Said Isis as she returned the key.

"Thanks for spending the night at our hotel, Miss." Replied the receptionist as she accepted the key.

With that, Isis and Lily – the latter wearing a sun hat – exited the hotel and started to walk away. They walked for several meters before meeting with Thoma, who wore a cap.

"Are you sure that special investigators are about to arrive?" Asked Isis.

"Yes, I heard it from the officers. There's also the fact that the Huckebein might be chasing us as well." Replied Thoma.

"If that's the case, we need to get out of the town ASAP."

As the trio walked through the street, they saw a man riding a motorcycle. His motorcycle looked like something that a bike gang might use. He stopped near a building and locked his motorcycle before walking inside.

"Stay here. I think I find ourselves a ride." Said Thoma as he walked towards the building.

" _Thoma, be careful._ " Stated Lily.

"Don't worry, Lily. I will."

Both girls walked towards the motorcycle as Thoma entered the building. After two or three minutes, he walked back to them with the key on his hand. Thoma then started the motorcycle as Isis and Lily sat behind him. It was for two, but if forced a bit the motorcycle provided room for three.

"So, are you sure this is OK? Not that we're going to get into deeper problem anyway." Asked Isis.

"Don't worry. I'll explain it on the way." Replied Thoma.

"You know how to ride this, right?"

"I once got taught a little about this from someone that I considered a big sister."

With that, Thoma gassed the motorcycle and drove away from the town.

* * *

 **Answer to a review:**

 **edboy4926:** The chances are slim. It's either because the Spirit of Vengeance considered the Wolkenritter weapons or because they're trying to repent themselves.

* * *

 **BTW, the motorcycle that Thoma stole is based on Harley-Davidson Sportster.**

 **If you have question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.**

 **Review please!**


	3. Accumulating Crimes

**Accumulating Crimes**

 **Valley Town, Ruwella**

Subaru and Nanoha were waiting outside a bar. They, alongside Fate and Teana, managed to gather a clue that this was where Thoma and his new "friends" were last seen. Currently, they were waiting for their Enforcer friends to finished asking questions with the people inside the building.

"Your mood seems to be always down, Subaru." Said Nanoha.

"Oh, it's nothing, Nanoha. I am just thinking about how Thoma managed to get himself into all of these problems." Replied Subaru.

"Don't worry, Subaru. If he's like what you told me, then I am sure that he's not guilty and merely at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Thanks. But that doesn't get rid of the fact that Thoma is very likely to be infected by Eclipse."

"Yeah…that's the difficult part."

One of the biggest problem that the Bureau faced when facing Eclipse was that they barely knew what they were fighting against. Few things that they knew about the virus were that it was, obviously, some sort of biological weapon, giving its hosts abilities like regeneration, and access to Eclipse equipment.

Then there was the interesting bit about the fact that Eclipse infectees grew a homicidal urge. Those that survive initial phase of the infection will gain all the powers and also the urge. Unfortunately, it was during those urge period where the Eclipse virus was at its prime and thus the best sample for vaccine. The virus from before and after that period provided little due to being too young and didn't grow anymore or degenerated really quickly when its host die.

So far, the only thing that the TSAB can do was to lock up all infectee and wait until they die. It was a cold decision, but the Bureau need to minimize the casualties as much as possible.

Subaru and Nanoha looked at the pair of Enforces that exit the building. Fate let out a sigh as Teana finished her note.

"So, how is it, Tea? Did they see where Thoma went to?" Asked Subaru almost immediately.

"Subaru…I hate to say this, but…almost everyone inside witnessed Thoma punched a guy until he went unconscious before setting off with the guy's motorcycle's key." Said Teana somberly.

Subaru, upon hearing that, lost some of her face's color.

"It…It must be early stage of Eclipse. He's not in murderous rampage…but…but…"

"OK, OK, Subaru. Calm down. There's a possibility that Thoma hasn't reach that stage yet."

"I…I really wish that, Tea. But…the fact that he punched a guy until he lost his consciousness…"

"Actually, that's the strange part." Said Fate suddenly.

"What do you mean, Fate?" Asked Nanoha.

"When Thoma punched the guy, the witness overheard him saying 'Next time, don't cheat from your wife'."

"Wait, what?" Said Subaru confused.

"We checked the guy's ID and managed to confirmed that he's married. The bartender confirmed that the gut routinely visited his bar to meet up with some woman. She's not his wife."

"Which raise an interesting question." Said Teana.

"Indeed. How did Thoma managed to find out about that, considering that his victim didn't even wear a ring?"

* * *

 **Road**

The fugitive trio – Thoma, Lily, and Isis – were exploring the road by riding a motorcycle. So far, they haven't been spotted by any TSAB officers.

"So, where should we go next?" Asked Isis.

"Another town I guess. The Bureau is most likely still observing all methods of exiting the planet since they haven't find the Huckebein and believe they're still on the planet." Replied Thoma.

"What makes you believe in that?"

"Call it instinct."

"Well, I guess the other killings that happen around Ruwella don't help the situation." Said Isis with a bit of snark.

They became quiet once more. After several minutes of driving, Lily spotted something on the horizon.

"Look up ahead."

Both Thoma and Isis looked at the thing that Lily saw. When they got closer, they could see with a clear view that it was a gas station.

"Gas station? That reminds me, shouldn't we stop there and buy ourselves some fuel for the motorcycle?" Said Isis.

"Nah, we don't need any fuel." Replied Thoma before thinking about something. "On the other hand, we might get ourselves some snack, hat, and glasses. You know, for our stomachs and guise."

"Sounds like a good idea."

With the three of them agreed with each other, Thoma drove the motorcycle towards the gas station.

* * *

 _ **Esquad Hückebein**_

Inside one of the room in the ship, Fortis, Arnage, and Cypha were having a meeting. The topic of the meeting was about how they're going to take out the entity that managed to hurt Veyron.

"So, let me get this straight, the wounds that Veyron received don't heal by themselves like usual." Said Cypha.

"Yes." Replied Fortis.

"Those wounds are inflicted by some sort of being with a flaming skull as its head."

"That's correct." Replied Arnage.

"And no matter what Veyron did, he couldn't hurt the entity at all."

"Indeed." Replied Fortis and Arnage.

Cypha let out a sigh and pick up a glass full of beer. She drank the entire content before putting it down.

"When I heard that we're in trouble, I thought that it's because those social workers managed to create an anti-Eclipse weapon, not because some demon from Hell decided that it's the time for us to take a trip to the Underworld." Commented Cypha.

"Well, I myself rather doubt that the thing that attacked Veyron is a demon. Illusion magic nowadays can do some rather surprising visual effect and Eclipse might not be the only source of these kind of powers." Replied Fortis.

"I know. I am being sarcastic."

"In any case, do anyone have an idea on how to take it out?" Asked Arnage excited.

"Veyron told us that despite being incapable of getting hurt, that entity still follows the rule of physics, including action and reaction. Pushed it hard enough, and it could be propelled across the room." Said Fortis.

"That means we just need to apply enough force and keep it on the ground while we finish our objectives, Am I correct?" Suggested Cypha.

"Correct indeed! Leave that to me; supreme firepower is my main shtick!" Said Arnage.

"I am not going to just conclude it to that. According to him, the entity is extremely durable. You can propel it across the room, but it will just stand up as if nothing happens. Which means, if we want to suppressed with force, it needs to be near continuous. And as powerful as we are, we have our own limits." Remined Fortis.

"Damn it. This must have happened when I declared that life has become easy for us. The Universe must've took that as personal offense and accepted it as a challenge." Said Arnage as she let herself fell to a sofa.

"Never challenge the Universe to make your life harder. It never ends well." Said Cypha. "Anyway, any idea on how the entity managed to give Veyron unhealable wounds?"

"Hmm…" Fortis put his hand on his chin. "Eclipse Virus has its history all the way to the Ancient Belkan Era. Perhaps an antidote of sort once exists during that time and the entity is in possession of them."

"I guess that makes sense. Most of the Bureau territory are former Belkan's. If the Eclipse wasn't somehow being purged, we would hear the news about if ever since we were born." Said Cypha.

"Exactly. Let me see what I can find from the ship and extranet. We might be going to raid several libraries, so be ready." Said Fortis as he walked away from the two women.

"Good luck with your search, Fortis! I'll make sure you get some good food in return!" Said Arnage.

* * *

 **Gas Station**

Inside the convenience store, Thoma, Lily, and Isis were buying some snacks and other things. Thoma in particular tried himself some new shade. Lily was confused with the food and drink that she was, due to never seeing foods like these. Isis tried some hats she found in the store, but found them unfitting of her style. Then, she decided to go to the toilet.

"[TV]…as such, the Bureau advices the citizens of Ruwella to report anything suspicious, stay inside the house during the night unless necessary, and…"

"Damn, this was a nice peaceful world. Then some idiots decided to cause problems." Commented the cashier who was busy reading a magazine.

Thoma silently agreed with him. At the same time, just from the voice he found the cashier to be annoying.

Anyway, looks like the three of them need to stay low for quite some times. According to the news, instead of decreasing, the Bureau actually increased the amount of security and surveillance on Ruwella. At the least, they need to find a place to stay for several weeks. The alternative was to keep moving around, never in the same place for a long time.

After picking the chosen snacks, Thoma and Isis went to the cashier to pay for them. And the shade as well. As the cashier scanned them, Thoma took out his wallet and was about to pay it when suddenly he felt something.

"Come on, Lily!" Said Thoma as he grabbed her hand.

"Eh?"

"Hey, what about your grocery?"

Both of them went inside the toilet that Isis used; the girl's toilet.

"Hey, what are - UMPH!"

* * *

Signum parked her car in a gas station. She actually didn't need any fuel since the tank was still full. But when she saw the motorcycle that was similar to the stolen one, she decided to asked some question here.

She fixed her uniform before disembarking from the car with Agito. Signum looked around for a bit as both of them went towards the convenience store. She entered it and saw the cashier reading a magazine.

With some snacks on the table. None of them were open, which means there was a chance that they belong to a customer rather than the cashier.

"Excuse me, Sir?" Said Signum. "I am Signum and this is my partner Agito. We're looking for three people suspected of committing some serious crimes. Have you seen any of them?"

Signum showed the man a poster with the sketches of Thoma, Lily, and Isis. In reality, Signum wasn't confident that the man saw anything worthwhile.

Her suspicion was proven true.

"Don't know. Not seeing anything important. Though there are two people who are about to buy these snacks but then decide to go to the toilet." Replied the cashier.

Hearing the last part, Signum and Agito decided to go towards the toilet. When they only few feet away, Agito asked something.

"Hey Signum, isn't it the time for you to prepare Laevatein?"

"I don't think so. While there's no customer, there's still the cashier. Then, we can't risk scarring the children."

"I am not so sure about..."

Before Agito can finished her words, they already in front of the door. And not even a second later, the door got pushed off its hinges and slammed towards the Knight. Thoma, who pushed the door, slammed the door and by extension Signum to the floor.

"Hey, what the…!" Exclaimed Agito before Isis delivered her attack.

"Dusky Thrush!"

The attack resulted in series of explosions that sent Thoma, Signum, and Agito across the store.

"Be careful, will you!" Exclaimed Thoma.

"It's not like I am aiming at you or something!" Retorted Isis.

"That's not what I mean!"

Agito immediately flew upwards and retaliated.

"Brennenkugel!" Shouted the Unison Device.

"Mystic Flight!"

On the other part of the battle, both Thoma and Signum managed to stand up and started to trade blow with each other. Each time Signum tried to summon Laevatein, Thoma immediately close in and prevent her from completing the action.

During the fight, Signum noticed that Thoma's movements were sloppy. Make sense since he lacked experience and didn't have any training except a little from Subaru. Unfortunately, it had been a long time since Signum fight in hand-to-hand combat and – she started to scolded herself mentally – having that kind of training as well.

However, it appeared that Thoma didn't need any skill at all. The force that he put in each of his punch was strong enough to hurt Signum significantly. Which mean she need to parry or dodge the attacks since blocking still cause her to receive a pain.

Suddenly, Signum heard something fell to the floor and the voice for some reason attracted her. When she looked at what was falling, she saw Agito on the floor, pretty much beaten up. When she saw the Device however, Thoma grabbed her right hand and punched her on the abdomen two times before hitting her chin. Those punches were strong enough to make her fall.

Thoma immediately summon his Divider and shot Signum on her kneecap. As she tried to stop the bleeding, Thoma, Lily, and Isis exited the store. On their way to the motorcycle, Isis destroyed Signum's car using Dusky Thrush. When all of them embarked the motorcycle, Thoma immediately rode away from the gas station, leaving a fire trail behind.

The cashier, who was hiding during the battle, grabbed several items from the now ruined store before took off himself.

* * *

 **Several hours later…**

 _ **Wolfram**_

Inside the medical bay, Shamal and the nurses managed to tend Signum and Agito's wounds. Both of them were now resting on the bed.

"So, I guess we can now confirm that Thoma Avenir is infected by the Eclipse?" Said Teana.

"I guess so. According to Subaru, Thoma was quite unruly when she found her, but never aggressive like this." Replied Fate as she took a look on Subaru.

The former Forward of Riot Force 6 remain silent after they brought Signum back. It was as clear as day though that Subaru was in ruin. Her face showed how panicked and in despair she was. Make sense since there was a high chance that Thoma showed an initial symptom of the homicidal urge that all Eclipse infectees suffered.

"Is there something that you can tell us about Thoma's ability?" Asked Hayate.

"Except the usual, not so much, Hayate. I am sorry." Replied Signum.

"Don't worry. Just make sure you have enough rest."

"I will."

After the conversation, Hayate and others left both Signum and Agito to let them rest. However, the General of Raging Fire had no intention to do that at the moment.

"Vita, Shamal, Zafira, Rein, please come to my bed. And make sure that no one notice. Not even Hayate." Said Signum through the telepathy.

"Is there something wrong, Signum?" Asked Vita. This was rather unusual.

"I can't explain it like this. Just come over here."

Several minutes later, the rest of the Wolkenritter entered the bay and went towards Signum and Agito.

"So, what do you want to tell us about?" Asked Vita.

"I actually didn't tell Hayate about everything that happened on the gas station. I left one little detail; I saw through Thoma's eyes." Replied Signum.

"Is there something wrong with his eyes?" Asked Reinforce, now very curious.

"When I saw his eyes, I can feel a sense of fear…terror started to grow in my heart. It urged me to run away from him ASAP."

This caused the other Wolkenritter to raise their brows in surprise. It was an achievement to make a Wolkenritter to fear about something that's not related to their master.

"Then, there's another thing."

"What is it?" Asked Shamal.

"Whatever I saw through his eyes, I can't help but feel I have seen those eyes before." Said Signum as she stared at the ceiling, thinking about when and where she had seen those eyes before.

* * *

 **And the chapter is done.**

 **If you have question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.**

 **Review please.**


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